Cost of electric-power interruptions to residences in the Tennessee Valley

Technical Report · Mon Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5344144· OSTI ID:5344144

Gilmer, R W; Mack, R S

This report assesses the cost of electric power outages to residential customers of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The assessment focuses primarily on costs associated with rationing electric power by means of rotating blackouts of 1 to 3 h, exercised several times per year and perhaps as often as once each month. The cost of these blackouts is assessed in terms of several measures of lost consumer's surplus and lost production within the home. Estimates are developed by season for the typical home, for homes in different parts of the Tennessee Valley, and for homes with different mixes of appliances. Estimates for a typical home in the TVA region vary from 20 cents to 50 cents per kilowatthour depending upon the season and the method of measurement used. These valuations for the TVA region are compared to cost estimates for the US as a whole. The implications of outages lasting longer than 3 h are considered, and costs sustained in such outages are outlined.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Inc., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76OR00033
• OSTI ID: 5344144
• Report Number(s): ORAU/IEA-82-4(M); ON: DE82014912
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

200300* -- Electric Power Engineering-- Power Transmission & Distribution-- (-1989)
24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
296000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Electric Power
BLACKOUTS
COST
ELECTRIC POWER
ENERGY SYSTEMS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OUTAGES
POWER
POWER DEMAND
POWER SYSTEMS
RESIDENTIAL SECTOR
TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY
TENNESSEE VALLEY REGION
US ORGANIZATIONS